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2022 Player Reviews: #10 Angus Brayshaw

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Demonland
in Melbourne Demons

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Brayshaw demonstrated his versatility throughout the year starring in defence, on a wing or in the middle. He was selected in the All-Australian squad, took the club’s leadership award and was fifth best and fairest.

"After speculation about a potential move west, Brayshaw turned his back on free agency to sign a whopping six-year contract extension with the Demons in July. The new deal ties the star midfielder to the club until 2028. Brayshaw played every game in 2022, averaging an elite 25.5 disposals a match." - Herald Sun

Date of Birth: 9 January 1996
Height: 187cm
Weight: 92kg
 
Games MFC 2022: 24
Career Total: 143
 
Goals MFC 2022: 2
Career Total: 47

Dick Taylor Memorial Trophy Fifth Club Best & Fairest: 446 votes

Brownlow Medal: 7 votes

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    Best year yet I think in team value and still can be a better  best version of himself. Always a team man Angus always seems to knit together a  defence or centreline.

    Hope he can do the forward line next year! 

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    Some on here think he is highly overrated, and we should trade him for whatever we can get. 
     

    Pure Comedy Gold….

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    10 hours ago, 58er said:

    Best year yet I think in team value and still can be a better  best version of himself. Always a team man Angus always seems to knit together a  defence or centreline.

    Hope he can do the forward line next year! 

    Agree 58er Gus was a bit of a revelation off the HBF, personally I would like him to play most of his footy in that position but he was also great on the wing and in the middle. He showed leadership and loyalty and he filled the gaps and did it with aplomb, looking forward to seeing where they play him in 2023.!!

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    15 hours ago, 58er said:

    Best year yet I think in team value and still can be a better  best version of himself. Always a team man Angus always seems to knit together a  defence or centreline.

    Hope he can do the forward line next year! 

    One of my favourite players, he has the knack and brings it to the fore at the most unexpected and necessary moments of many games across the season.  I'd like to see him up forward more often, as well - he was producing dead-eye-[censored] at one point in the recent past - he has terrific goal accuracy when 'on the run' from well outside the hot zone. Opportunities were low, but he seized these to great effect.

     

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    Waste of money having both Salem and Brayshaw back so I hope they allow him to move to the midfield fully. 

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    21 hours ago, Ollie fan said:

    I want him at HBF. Great interceptor. But his disposal is too iffy for the key midfield.

    This is one of those myths that seems to get a bit of airtime on DL that I’d like to call out. I doubt we have a better midfield kick than Gus, and that is on both sides of his body. Last year his kicking efficiency was 67.6%, that is around 15% more efficient than Oliver and 11% better than Petracca. No one on our team with significant midfield minutes disposed of the ball anywhere near as well by foot unless you count JJ on the wing (around 73%).

    i don’t mind people criticising our players if it there is an actual issue in their game. But there are a lot of completely inaccurate criticisms here that seem to become like a meme. This is one of those.

    Edited by FlashInThePan
    Typo

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    1 hour ago, FlashInThePan said:

    This is one of those myths that seems to get a bit of airtime on DL that I’d like to call out. I doubt we have a better midfield kick than Gus, and that is on both sides of his body. Last year his kicking efficiency was 67.6%, that is around 15% more efficient than Oliver and 11% better than Petracca. No one on our team with significant midfield minutes disposed of the ball anywhere near as well by foot unless you count JJ on the wing (around 73%).

    i don’t mind people criticising our players if it there is an actual issue in their game. But there are a lot of completely inaccurate criticisms here that seem to become like a meme. This is one of those.

     

    Your post highlights exactly why quoting statistics alone is absolutely pointless and the hilarious thing is that the 'myth' actually exists in the heart of your post.

    Firstly, it's not clear whether or not you're talking about the season just gone or last year as in 2021?

    If it's the latter, I'm not sure why you'd bother posting these stats at all given Gus played wing the whole year and when you're predominantly outside of where the heat is, naturally you'll have a higher DE by both foot and hand. 

    If you're talking about this year, the same argument applies given his move to the middle (where it's the hardest area to stack consistent effective disposals) came very late in the year and up until then he played across half back mostly, (a position where it is the easiest to stack consistent effective disposals).

    Supporters who suggest Gus butchers the ball more than he should are absolutely dead on the money. No useless statistics will be able debunk that. 

    Gus was afforded more time, space and less pressure with ball in hand than Trac and Clarry due to the position he played in most of this season and last. Naturally, his disposal efficiency will be higher. However, he still butchers the ball far too often when under little to no pressure. 

    Your eyes will tell you that and not a silly statistic.

     

    Edited by JimmyGadson

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    1 hour ago, FlashInThePan said:

    This is one of those myths that seems to get a bit of airtime on DL that I’d like to call out. I doubt we have a better midfield kick than Gus, and that is on both sides of his body. Last year his kicking efficiency was 67.6%, that is around 15% more efficient than Oliver and 11% better than Petracca. No one on our team with significant midfield minutes disposed of the ball anywhere near as well by foot unless you count JJ on the wing (around 73%).

    i don’t mind people criticising our players if it there is an actual issue in their game. But there are a lot of completely inaccurate criticisms here that seem to become like a meme. This is one of those.

    I’m a fan of Gus and delighted he signed on but his disposal is not his strongest attribute 

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    2 hours ago, FlashInThePan said:

    No one on our team with significant midfield minutes disposed of the ball anywhere near as well by foot unless you count JJ on the wing (around 73%).

    Wrong thread, deleted comment.

     

    Edited by Deemania since 56

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    Was very good down back when given more of an intercepting role, especially when Lever was out. 

    But as the season went on his constant desire to peel off and intercept rather than man up meant we had too many fold back defenders. The ball lived in our back half. Hence why it made sense to move him back to the midfield and play someone like Hunt who would aggressively defend an opponent and cut off outlet kicks. 

    He didn’t turn it over much down back but that’s because he would give and receive chip kicks in to the pockets. Very rarely did he take more aggressive corridor kicks and even more rarely did he run the lines - both vital attributes for a successful back flanker. 

    He was more effective as a midfielder than I imagined. Giving him the starting position of tagging someone like Neale was wise. It minimised his defensive lapses and took away from the downside of too many ball focussed mids.

    But boy was he inefficient with the ball in the midfield. 

    Overall he had a good year but I just don’t agree with the value of such a long contract and surely plenty of $$$ to a player who’s greatest attribute is versatility. 

    There’s a downside to every position Gus moves as it throws out team balance given he doesn’t blend in as a role player nor does he have the standout attributes to be locked in any given role. 

    I have no idea where he’ll play in 2023. I assume they’ll give him a chance to win an on ball spot but I still think our best midfield mix needs speed and skills around the big 3. 

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    7 hours ago, JimmyGadson said:

     

    Your post highlights exactly why quoting statistics alone is absolutely pointless and the hilarious thing is that the 'myth' actually exists in the heart of your post.

    Firstly, it's not clear whether or not you're talking about the season just gone or last year as in 2021?

    If it's the latter, I'm not sure why you'd bother posting these stats at all given Gus played wing the whole year and when you're predominantly outside of where the heat is, naturally you'll have a higher DE by both foot and hand. 

    If you're talking about this year, the same argument applies given his move to the middle (where it's the hardest area to stack consistent effective disposals) came very late in the year and up until then he played across half back mostly, (a position where it is the easiest to stack consistent effective disposals).

    Supporters who suggest Gus butchers the ball more than he should are absolutely dead on the money. No useless statistics will be able debunk that. 

    Gus was afforded more time, space and less pressure with ball in hand than Trac and Clarry due to the position he played in most of this season and last. Naturally, his disposal efficiency will be higher. However, he still butchers the ball far too often when under little to no pressure. 

    Your eyes will tell you that and not a silly statistic.

     

    The stats I provided are from this past year. But hey, you go with your eye, we are living in a new world where alternative facts are all the rage.

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    36 minutes ago, FlashInThePan said:

    The stats I provided are from this past year. But hey, you go with your eye, we are living in a new world where alternative facts are all the rage.

    Averaged the 2nd most turnovers per game for us this year despite playing the majority of the year as a loose man in the easiest position on the ground. For reference, he was 4th for average disposals.

    It was a really poor year for him disposal-wise. He's better than that, and we need him to be better than that next year.

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    39 minutes ago, FlashInThePan said:

    The stats I provided are from this past year. But hey, you go with your eye, we are living in a new world where alternative facts are all the rage.

    Or one might remember the saying, there are lies, damned lies and statistics.

    I watched him butcher the ball too many times as a midfielder. I think he’s a great player but wing  or HBF - and I suspect the two wings will now be Langdon and Hunter.

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    5 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

    But boy was he inefficient with the ball in the midfield.

    Averaged 7.6 turnovers per game once he went into the midfield.

    Out of our other mids - Viney 5.4, Oliver 5.2, Trac 4.8.

    During that period he averaged 27 disposals per game, which is less than both Clarry (32) and Trac (28).

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    Lost count how many times he had a knack of just kicking the ball out on the full on so many occasions when he got moved into the midfield.

    Was infuriating. 

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    Guys, now that you have finished dumping on poor old Gus, why don’t you do the fair thing and have a dump on our other players as well. Or not.

     

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    22 minutes ago, Neil Crompton said:

    Guys, now that you have finished dumping on poor old Gus, why don’t you do the fair thing and have a dump on our other players as well. Or not.

     

    I vote for NOT. 👍🏽

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    15 hours ago, FlashInThePan said:

    The stats I provided are from this past year. But hey, you go with your eye, we are living in a new world where alternative facts are all the rage.

    Okay... So did you read the rest of my post which provided the context needed for the useless stat alone? 

    They were facts. Gus played outside roles more often. Facts. There is less pressure on the outside and you're given more time and space to hit targets. Also facts. 

    How many do you want? Or are they all alternative to you because of your unwillingness to see how silly your post was? 

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    Great all round season from Gus and was unlucky not to sneak in to the main AA side. Like others I might have had slightly higher hopes when he moved into the middle but we know what we get from him now and there's tonnes of other mids in this comp that butcher the ball with regularity. 

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    Gus had a great season and showed his versatility. Should've been AA half back flanker IMO and I didn't know he had it in him!

    No idea what role or position he'll play next season, but I do know he'll do it very well. Gus is a very good footballer, plain and simple. The fact he's able to play such a variety of roles successfully is testament to his footy IQ, skillset, and attitude. He's a truly loyal team member who does what the team needs him to and I've got huge respect for the way he goes about it. His new contract was a big win for the club, as he's hugely important from a cultural perspective as a leader and mate. 

    Looking forward to what Gus can achieve over the next few season as he's in his prime as a footballer.

    Edited by Lord Travis

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    Will be interesting to see where he'll be trained up during the pre season group. 

    Midfield group?

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